She was born as France Nguyen Van-Nga in Marseille, France to a French mother and Vietnamese father. After her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the occupying Germans during World War II for being gypsies, Nuyen was raised in Marseille by a cousin. [1] In interviews, she says that she thinks of herself as culturally French and feels she has little in common with most Asians.

Nuyen was working as a seamstress in 1955 when she was discovered by a photographer for LIFE magazine. She came to America in 1956 and became a member of the Lee Strasberg Acting Studio in New York. [2] A professional acting career on film, television and stage soon followed.

Nuyen made her film debut portraying Liat in the hit 1958 film version of the stage musical South Pacific. Among her co-stars in this film was Ray Walston, who would play Boothby in various episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager many years later. Nuyen won the Daniel Bloom Award for her role in South Pacific. Nuyen followed this with a role in the 1958 film adaptation of In Love and War, co-starring the actor who played the first Star Trekcaptain, Jeffrey Hunter. Her roles in these two films earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Female Newcomer.

Later that same year, Nuyen began starring on Broadway opposite William Shatner in The World of Suzie Wong, with Nuyen playing the title role. She won the 1959 Theatre World Award for her performance in the play, which ran for a total of 508 performances. [3] She was to reprise her role in the 1960 film adaptation of the play and even shot half the film, but she was suddenly replaced with Nancy Kwan. [4] She went on to work with William Shatner again on Star Trek and at least two more times afterward: on a 1972 episode of Kung Fu (with Rosemary Forsyth and Keye Luke) and in the 1973 CBS TV movie, The Horror at 37,000 Feet (with Darleen Carr and Paul Winfield).

After ending her run on Suzie Wong, Nuyen starred in such films as Diamond Head (1966, co-starring James Darren) and Dimension 5 (1966, again working with Jeffrey Hunter, as well as Robert Ito and Jon Lormer). In 1963, Nuyen married Dr. Thomas Morell, a psychiatrist. The two had a daughter, Fleur, but ultimately divorced in 1966. Nuyen's television credits during this time included a guest appearance on a Joseph Sargent-directed episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., two episodes of Gunsmoke (including one with Michael Ansara), and a few episodes of I Spy. It was on this series that Nuyen met actor Robert Culp, whom she married in 1967 and divorced in 1970.

In addition to acting, Nuyen is also a certified psychologist. She received a master's degree in Clinical Psychology in 1986 and became a psychological counselor for abused women and children, women in prison, and drug abusers. She was named "Woman of the Year" in 1989 for her psychological work, in addition to numerous commendations and awards. [5][6]